Economists push AI governance debate beyond safety and regulation
A coalition of more than 200 economists, researchers and technology leaders argues that governments must prepare for economic disruptions that could arrive faster than previous industrial revolutions.
GENEVA — As governments and technology companies focus on how to govern artificial intelligence, a new coalition of economists and AI leaders is warning that another challenge deserves far more attention: the economic consequences of the technology itself.
Days after diplomats, regulators, researchers and industry executives gathered in Geneva for a week of discussions on AI governance, more than 200 economists, researchers and technology leaders issued a statement calling for urgent preparation for what they describe as a potentially unprecedented economic transformation.
The statement, released on Monday under the title We Must Act Now, argues that artificial intelligence may cause economic changes that exceed those of the Industrial Revolution while unfolding over a much shorter period.
“AI may become radically more powerful over the next 10 years. This could drive an unprecedented transformation of our economy, larger than the Industrial Revolution, but unfolding over a vastly shorter time frame,” the coalition wrote.
The statement arrives at a moment when international discussions about AI governance are expanding rapidly. For much of the past two years, debates have centered on safety, misinformation, security risks, technical standards and regulation. But the new declaration suggests growing concern that policymakers may be underestimating the economic implications of AI systems.
Pointing to the possibility of both major productivity gains and large-scale job displacement, the coalition argues that governments and institutions need to begin preparing now.
“Economists, policymakers and technology leaders must act now to understand the economics of transformative AI and to build the incentives, guardrails, and institutions needed to steer AI in a direction that complements humans and benefits society,” the statement says.
The signatories include Nobel Prize-winning economists Joseph Stiglitz, Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, Ben Bernanke, Paul Krugman and Christopher Pissarides, along with former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, senior figures from OpenAI and Anthropic, venture capital investors and researchers from universities around the world.
The breadth of the coalition is notable because it brings together economists who have often differed on the likely pace and impact of technological change, as well as executives from competing AI companies.
Their willingness to endorse a common statement suggests that concerns about AI’s economic consequences are moving closer to the mainstream of both economics and technology policy. The timing is also significant.
The statement follows two major international gatherings in Geneva: the U.N. Global Dialogue on AI Governance and the AI for Good Global Summit, hosted by the International Telecommunication Union. Those meetings brought together governments, international organizations, researchers and companies to discuss how AI should be governed internationally.
The conversations focused largely on issues such as international coordination, standards, inclusion, development, safety and emerging governance frameworks. A new U.N. architecture for AI governance is also beginning to take shape through a scientific panel, political dialogue process and other mechanisms approved by member nations.
The economists’ declaration highlights a parallel challenge. Rather than focusing primarily on technological risks, it asks whether labor markets, education systems, social protections and public institutions are prepared for potentially rapid changes in the nature of work.
